Monthly Archives: February 2008

Met up with Penny and Rashida yesterday morning to discuss some matters, then we decided to go and see the TC Property Manager, as it was already the deadline for removing all but 5 cats from the bin center.

The Property Manager readily agreed to work with us and not to have any of the cats rounded up… as long as the number of cats doesn’t increase. She also explained to us that the mistake occurred because the block number where the pest control was supposed to go to in Woodlands that morning was similar to the block number where the cats were actually trapped.

We even mentioned the idea of a cat cafe on that little hill… we will have to find out how to go about it.

Just received an sms from Penny that one of the cats, a black-and-white was killed in an accident. Sadly, our community cats are exposed to many dangers…

I hope that more people will be aware that hit-and-run is a crime even if the victim is merely a cat or a dog. Note down the car licence number if you witness such an incident and of course bring the injured animal to a vet if possible or at least call the SPCA.

A family came to view Caramel yesterday and they liked her. They have another young female cat who has just been sterilised, so Caramel will have company. They actually wanted to take her straight away but then agreed to put up the wiremeshing first. Better to be safe…

Alice is really very cute! Purring away like a motor! The Auntie found her at blk *11 while feeding Sophus yesterday night. She said the kitten kept following her and then she carried her accross the road to Billy Boy’s place. Sylvia carried her to *30 where Mohan was trying (unsucessfully) to trap the Romeo.

Romeo had recovered from his previous injury but has now a big wound at the side of his face. He is still eating well so Mohan advised Juliana to get some medication to mix into his food.

Mohan then dropped the kitten off at my place on his way home. Beauty had just been released today, so I put her in the bathroom rather than on the balcony with Jade. Ivy’s will be taking her soon, because Penny has no more space left as she just took in a mother cat with 4 tiny kittens. She had a tippoff that pest control was trapping at *38 (which is an area where there is no caregiver) then she found out that actually this cat and her kittens outside a flat on the upper floor of *37 were the target.

Sylvia came to know who took Babu. They are students from China staying at a nearby block. They said that they had to return to China for 3 months and didn’t know what to do so they released him back to where they took him.

Now it seem they have taken him again… with the Auntie’s approval. Hope Sylvia and myself can talk to them to find out what they plan to do with Babu when they return to China….

Ivy came to know about 2 kittens at the staircase between 7th and 8th floor of blk *11 Area 1 and went to look for them.

By the time she reached there, they were gone. Later she managed to find one of them at the 10 floor… very frightened and hungry.

I also searched for the other one later and put up posters…hoping for a witness to come forward.

Msg from Ivy:

I popped him into my handbag. He’s under foster care for hopefully a month, or till he’s due for his sterilisation with my friend.Bald patches here & there.Very tame, okay with claw trimming and uses the kitty litter perfectly!

AS THE number of abandoned pedigree dogs shot up alarmingly last year, the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) has urged the authorities to tighten the import, commercial breeding and sale of such dogs.

Three years ago, about one in four lost and unwanted dogs was a purebred. This number rose to “alarming levels” last year, with one in two unwanted dogs a pedigreed. Overall, the SPCA received an average of 250 lost or unwanted dogs each month last year.

The trend shows no signs of abating. Last month, the SPCA received 125 lost and unwanted pedigreed dogs alone. Some reasons cited by owners giving up their canines included leaving the country, moving house, expecting a child and — a frequent excuse — no time to look after it.

In light of this, SPCA has written in to the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority (AVA) asking for curbs to be placed on the import and commercial breeding or sale of pedigree dogs.

“It’s time to take stock of the number being bred, sold and imported annually and to see if there are enough homes for them,” SPCA executive officer Deirdre Moss told Today. “There is definitely a surplus (of pedigreed dogs) and too many people buying on the spur of the moment.”

Another animal welfare group, Action for Singapore Dogs (ASD), supported SPCA’s call. Over the last six months, ASD president Ricky Yeo said the society has seen a 20 to 30 per cent increase in pedigreed strays being picked up.

Even more worryingly, he notes, this trend means that the chances of rescued local mongrels being adopted have also eroded, as pedigreed dogs are seen as being “superior”. At ASD, the adoption rate for pedigrees is on the rise, while that for mongrels has been slipping, said Mr Yeo.

An AVA spokesperson said the authority understands SPCA’s concerns but reiterated that Singapore operates on “a free market system”. He said: “It would not be appropriate to restrict the number and type of dogs imported or bred and sold commercially as long as the pet business is legal and complies with the regulations and applicable conditions.”

With the revision of the Animals and Birds (Licensing and Control) Rule last September, the spokesperson said AVA has also introduced several measures — such as compulsory microchipping and introduction of a differential fee for sterilised and unsterilised pet dogs — to discourage abandonment. Tighter controls on breeding dog populations on dog farms were also put in place.

Ms Moss urged would-be owners to think long-term before getting a dog. “Dogs require a lot of attention, socialisation and training,” she said. “Your part of the bargain also has to be fulfilled — you have to spend time with them and communicate with them. It is not unlike having a child.”

Under the Animals and Birds Act, a person found guilty of abandonment of an animal could be fined up to $10,000 or jailed a year, or both.

Call for a BAN on import of dogs as well as the breeding of dogs. Many of the dogs come from hell-hole dog breeding mills overseas as well as in Singapore. Just pop by Pasir Ris farmway and look beyond the nice sale front into the back of the breeding farms and see the bad conditions the bitches and studs are in – many have terrible skin conditions.

Is AVA more concern of offending “dog” business people than the welfare of dogs?

There are enough abandoned dogs in shelters to satisfy the need of genuine people who care about dogs. Why is there a need to meet the need of people who buy dogs like they buy Gucci bags! And discard them like they discard things they lose interest in after a while. These are selfish people who do not deserve the love of a loyal dog! They are the ones who should be abandoned to suffer!

Speak out for these animals because only we have the voices to do that for them!

NEVER BUY PETS!

BOYCOTT SHOPS THAT SELL PETS!

TELL YOUR FRIENDS WHO ARE LOOKING FOR ANIMAL COMPANIONS TO ADOPT FROM SHELTERS!

Jade is eating now and she is much more lively. Today the urine is back to normal colour and her eyes are less watery. Still syringe-feeding her with chicken broth to make sure she gets enough liquid. Strangely, she only eats dry food now…perhaps she knows that she needs more concentrated food after being on liquid diet for so many days.